CALDWELL, Idaho –
Charles Elzie scored a career-high 19 points, leading The College of Idaho to a dominating 99-65 victory over Multnomah University in the quarterfinals of the Cascade Conference Championships, presented by U.S. Bank, inside the J.A. Albertson Activities Center.
The No. 9-ranked Coyotes (27-4) ran their win streak to nine with their fourth-consecutive victory by 28-points or more.
C of I will host seventh-seeded Warner Pacific on Saturday night at 7 p.m. in the semifinals – with tickets available on the
Yotes Ticket Portal. WPU upset second-seeded Oregon Tech, 85-76, in Klamath Falls.
The Yotes depth was the key in the victory, as C of I reserves outscored the Lions (13-18) bench, 58-0 – paced by the big night from Elzie and
Johnny Radford added 17.
MU hung around for much of the first half behind a long-range assault from Taylor Peppinger, who finished the night 8-of-16 from 3-point range, scoring a game-high 24 points. His fifth 3-pointer of the night cut a C of I lead to 31-24, but 3's from Elzie and Radford, along with a dunk from
Drew Wyman, helped the host extend the margin to 42-27.
The Coyotes put the game away midway through the second half, as Radford canned consecutive 3's and a steal and basket from Elzie capping a 16-2 run that extended the hosts lead to 79-46.
C of I converted 49-percent of their field goals and tied a season-high with 13 made 3-pointers – their fourth-straight game with double-digit treys. The Yotes controlled the boards, outrebounding the Portland school, 52-31, while holding the Lions 17 points below their season scoring average.
Elzie made 7-of-10 field goals, while adding four assists and three steals, with Radford making 5-of-9 shots from 3-point range. Wyman had 15 points and six rebounds,
Derek Wadsworth had eight points and five assists, with
Jake O'Neil scoring seven points with a game-high 13 rebounds.
Tyrese Taylor had 21 points and nine rebounds, with Caldwell native Forrest Smith scoring 17 in the loss for MU, as the duo, along with Peppinger, combined for 63 of their 65 points.
